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| October 31, 2014 |
The Next Big Avenue
Where a bowling alley and strip mall once stood, Yorkdale Village, a mixed-use townhouse development from Decade Group on Wilson Avenue, is breathing new life into Downsview's main drag.
“This place was dying,” Decade Group VP Jordan Teperman (scion of the Teperman Wrecking family) tells Bisnow on a hard-hat tour of Yorkdale Village, now in its 96-home second phase (the first, with 75 homes, sold out). The project includes 5,000 SF of ground-floor retail. The goal is to soften the Wilson corridor, with its seemingly endless strip malls and parking lots, says Jordan, who's also vice chair of the local BIA. “We're bringing urban renewal to Downsview.”
The city is encouraging projects like Yorkdale Village (Phase 1 seen here) to increase mixed-use development along designated avenues, including Wilson. Farther west, Decade is planning a mixed-use project facing Downsview Park. They're not alone. Fernbrook Homes and Cityzen Development Group are building Ion Condos in the area, and Mattamy Homes and Urbancorp are JVing on the Downsview Park townhouse project. Plus, Jordan notes, work on the new Humber River Regional Hospital is wrapping up at Wilson and Keele. Remaking Wilson won't be easy. Jordan and his BIA team are planning to landscape the street to make it more pleasant and pedestrian-friendly than what's pictured above. They're aiming for new, high-quality retailers, but the strip malls and parking lots have multiple ownership within a single complex and shallow lots, making land assembly and redevelopment tricky. "It can be done," Jordan maintains. "I see (Wilson) one day becoming the next Roncesvalles or Ossington Avenue." |
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CORRECTION
In an item that appeared in this publication on Oct. 28, we erroneously reported that 205 Yonge Street was for sale. We apologize for this mistake; it is for lease (although the listing agent told us anything and everything is for sale at the right price). A gentleman identifying himself as the owner of the building contacted us and said that the article was “misleading.” We have repeatedly asked if additional mistakes were made but have not received a reply. Our article was based on a recorded interview with a source we believed to be credible. If others have information about the accuracy of the original article, we invite them to notify us immediately: sibley@bisnow.com. We are eager to correct the record in any appropriate way and urge those interested in this property to watch this space for further information. |
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Record Year for Land Swaps?
Land deals for residential properties are spiking, RealNet Canada research manager Richard Vilner tells us. Of the $3.1B in overall real estate activity recorded in Q3, 27%, or $821M, came via land sales for future residential developments, more than half of them high-density mixed-use projects. “That's greater than we normally see,” Richard says, noting the last quarter was the second best on record in terms of dollar volume for land deals (Q4 2011 hit $855M).
 Q4's biggest deals: China-based Greenland Group's acquisition of King Blue condos (for $113M, the top-priced sale in 2014); Lee Development Group's purchase of 88 Queen St E (with plans for a 1.3M SF multi-tower mixed-use project); and Greybrook's acquisition of 215 Lake Shore Blvd W, slated for a 1.8M SF development, according to RealNet. Pointing to Mizrahi Developments' recent purchase of legendary Stollerys at the southwest corner of Yonge and Bloor (reportedly for more than $100M), plus adjacent lands, Richard predicts residential deals could make 2014 a “record year” for commercial real estate.
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Leafs Coach to Women of CoreNet
Women of CoreNet held its inaugural event Oct. 22 at The National Club on Bay Street, with more than 70 attendees. Co-organizer Tina Wolf (of Space Database) tells us the evening included networking and a “fireside chat” with Toronto Maple Leafs skating consultant and world figure skating champ Barbara Underhill (right) and Infrastructure Ontario EVP Toni Rossi, who spoke about carving out career paths in sports and real estate. Tina organized the evening with CBRE's Judy Fancy, Urbacon's Rian Johnson, and CIBC's Sarah Clare. |
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Crowdfunding:
The Airbnb of Real Estate
Just like Airbnb shot to popularity and disrupted the hotel industry, crowdfunding is making it's way to the top of commercial real estate, Fundrise CEO Ben Miller says in Bisnow's new 30-minute video on the growing trend. It's the tech adoption life cycle: a low-quality product at a low price transforms into a high-quality product at a low price. Translation: crowdfunding has moved from fun money to investment-grade product, Ben says, making it a formidable tool that institutions are watching carefully. Check out our video to learn more! |
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Don't forget to turn back the clocks this weekend; oh, and best to change those smoke detector batteries while you're at it. ryan.starr@bisnow.com |
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This newsletter is a journalistic news source which accepts no payment for featured interviews. It is supported by conventional advertisers clearly identified in the right hand column. You have been selected to receive it either through prior contact or professional association. If you have received it in error, please accept our apologies and unsubscribe at bottom of the newsletter. © 2013, Bisnow LLC, 1817 M St., NW, Washington, DC 20036. All rights reserved.
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© 2014, Bisnow LLC, 1817 M St., NW, Washington, DC 20036. All rights reserved.
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